This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3857
February 6, 2009
Muslims Leaders Feign Moderation, Prepare For The Caliphate
By BEILA RABINOWITZ and WILLIAM MAYER
February 6, 2009 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - The Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow [MLT] held a recent conference in Doha, Qatar in keeping with their charter which is to cultivate the next generation of "Muslim leaders" and to promote them in civic and public life.
That charter stresses that leadership means to embrace an Islam that is all encompassing and seeks to "create a platform...true to the diversity of the Ummah...guided by the teaching of the Qur'an and the Prophet." [source, http://www.muslimleadersoftomorrow.org/about/charter]
["The Doha forum, entitled "Change from Within: Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow Set the Agenda," will launch the MLT program on a global scale and empower the MLT network further with a combination of practical media trainings, networking and plenary sessions designed to tackle common Muslim challenges with collective Muslim solutions."]http://www.muslimleadersoftomorrow.org/events/doha-2009]
Though this group represents itself as being moderate in nature, in reality its members are stealth jihadists who literally are engaged in training the upcoming generation to assist in that goal.
As an example, their radicalism is demonstrated by MLT choosing Arsalan Iftekhar to lead a panel discussion at this conference, entitled, "Tackling Violent Extremism: Our Responsibility?" Iftekhar is a classic example of an Islamist, the former national legal director of the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR], a pro-Hamas mouthpiece and an unindicted co-conspirator in the [successfully prosecuted] Holy Land Foundation Hamas funding trial.
A press report from an Arab news source reveals the extremist Muslim worldview of the participants in these panels and their easily tossed off religious justification for violent jihad, in the below case, Palestinian/Hamas terrorism against Israelis.
"Mona Kanwal Sheikh, one of the panelists, said Islam has nothing to do with terrorism, injustice or violence. The phenomenon of more and more young people attracted to the militant outfits is a matter to be discussed covering all aspects of the issue. The wider perceptions about Jihad and martyrdom must also be subjected to a wider discussion, she said Mona, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, attributed occupations on the borders to be one of the major reasons for the growing support for extremist outfits. There is a lack of psychological integration among the Muslims in many parts of the world. "Violence can be justified if it is defensive. Occupation certainly demands resistance…"
[source, http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=January2009&file=Local_News200901197146.xml]
The Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow is an offshoot of ASMA, the American Society for Muslim Advancement, so its fundamentalism is not surprising.
ASMA's record is one of promoting stealth jihad through da'wa [Muslim conversion] a process which it has passed on to the MLT, one designed to Islamize the West by grooming hand-picked Muslim "leaders."
At the Saudi backed 2006 MLT conference held in Denmark these faux moderates engaged in discussions on how to increase Muslim political and social influence, euphemistically calling it "bridge building."
ASMA can be viewed as an American version of any overtly radical group - Hizb ut Tahrir, for example - after it has gone through an "extremist makeover" where the ideal of the Caliphate [world-wide fundamentalist Islamic rule] has been couched in kumbaya. ASMA's young, contemporary facade masks its radical ideology, making it harder to detect, which as these writers have repeatedly pointed out poses a potent long-term threat.
The selection criteria established by the MLT reads like a job description for stealth jihadists and employs military jargon, "The network seeks to capitalize on the shared knowledge of cohorts of individuals who are experiencing similar concerns due to their life stages. This shared knowledge functions as a force multiplier..." [source, http://www.muslimleadersoftomorrow.org/about/criteria]
The 2004 ASMA MLT conference was deemed a great success, "The three biggest takeaways were networking, hearing about other people's work, and the sense that a path has been defined, and that people can see a way forward for Islam in America." [source, http://www.asmasociety.org/religion/mlt_04retreat.html]
Towards that end, the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow has just issued an open letter to "world leaders" in which they advance the specious claim that Muslim extremism is a legitimate response to factors outside of Islam and that "meeting basic needs" will cause Muslims to be less likely "to be swayed by radical ideologies." The disingenuousness of such claims is apparent when one considers the fact that the leaders of the Islamic terror network, people such as bin-Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri are highly educated, having come from the upper echelons of Arab society, with many of them having lived in the West while attending elite institutions of higher learning.
The true agenda of Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow is probably best characterized via an unintentionally revelatory series of cartoons featured at its 2006 conference. [source, http://www.asmasociety.org/mlt2006/cartoons.html]
As these illustrations clearly demonstrate, this group, as is the case with all Islamists, oppose the basic rights and freedoms that are emblematic of the West. This stance exposes all of the MLT/ASMA pronouncements of moderation as lies designed to facilitate the organization's participation in a stealth jihad which has its origins in a plan carefully established by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the progenitor of modern Islamic radical thought. http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=mltid=2.6.09%2Ehtm
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MIM: Announcement of the MLT conference in Doha,Qatar.
Doha, 2009: Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow Set the Agenda
This coming year, the MLT program will build on its success in the past three years and launch its global presence at a conference in Doha, Qatar on January 16-19, 2009. Sponsored by the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue and in collaboration with Cordoba Initiative and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, ASMA has undertaken to broaden the MLT network to include dynamic Muslim leaders from Muslim-majority countries as well as from the West.
The Doha forum, entitled "Change from Within: Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow Set the Agenda," will launch the MLT program on a global scale and empower the MLT network further with a combination of practical media trainings, networking and plenary sessions designed to tackle common Muslim challenges with collective Muslim solutions.
The MLT program will also introduce several new elements for streamlining the global MLT network, including global chapter development, an online MLT portal and an MLT one-to-one mentorship program for sharing best practices.
In addition to furthering the development of the MLT network, the 2009 conference will feature several exciting events, including the presentation of an "Open Letter to the World Leaders of Today from the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow," an edition of the BBC's "Doha Debates" series and the unveiling of a "Hope Tapestry" commemorating the visions of each MLT attendee for a better future.
http://www.muslimleadersoftomorrow.org/events/doha-2009
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MIM: The MLT 'Values Charter' aims at "improving our communities and our world for the present and future generations"... "guided by the teachings of the Qur'an and the Prophet'.
ValuesCharter
bismillah al rahman al rahim
As Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow, we proclaim our commitment to improving our communities and our world for present and future generations. Driven by sincere intentions and leading by example, we create a platform for informed, collective, and sustainable action; true to the diversity of the Ummah and the pluralism of Islamic thought, we work together and empower others to find solutions to difficult challenges; and, guided by the teachings of the Qur'an and the Prophet, we strive to create secure, peaceful, and thriving societies for the benefit of all humanity. We dedicate ourselves to the following:
Freedom: To protect the right of every man, woman, and child to live a free and dignified life.
Justice: To build a just global community, particularly for those that are most vulnerable.
Pluralism: To encourage tolerant and respectful intra-Islamic and interfaith interactions.
Intellectual Development: To create an environment of open dialogue, intellectual exchange, and knowledge sharing.
Creativity: To nurture the creative impulses of Muslims and Muslim cultures worldwide.
Leadership: To unite Muslims by exemplifying Islam as a faith of spiritual reflection, intellectual engagement, and social responsibility.
http://www.muslimleadersoftomorrow.org/about/charter/
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MIM: The Cordoba Initiative and ASMA work together with MLT. Below is an announcment for 'The Shariah Project'.
2006 August: The Shariah Project – Initial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur
Convened in Malaysia by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Shariah Project's initial meeting assembled five distinguished scholars of Islamic holy law from four countries. In addition to Imam Feisal, the group included: Professor Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi, Pakistan (Chairman of the Shariah Board for the State Bank of Pakistan and former president of International Islamic University); Professor Dr. Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Malaysia (Dean of the International Institute of Islamic Thought & Civilization and Former Interim Chairman, Constitutional Review Committee, Afghanistan); Professor Dr. Tahir Mahmood, India (Founder/Chairman, Amity University Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, New Delhi, and former Dean of the Faculty of Law, Delhi University); Dato' Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Malaysia (Judge, Federal Court of Malaysia … Malaysian Supreme Court). The Shariah Project is sponsored by the ASMA Society in cooperation with the Cordoba Initiative.http://www.cordobainitiative.org/recent_programs.html
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MIM: The Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow group is described on the Cordoba Initiative website as being " a source of hope and inspiration for Muslims and non- Muslims alike". The emphasis on "mostly Western born" Muslim professionals parallels the target group of Hizb ut Tahrir.
4. The American Muslim Initiatives
Organized in partnership with the American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA)
A. The Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow (MLT) – The leadership of young American Muslim professionals represents one of the best hopes for bridging the chasm between the Islamic World and the U.S. The Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow project (MLT) convenes urbane, mostly Western-born, emerging Muslim leaders who embody a moderate expression of Islam that promotes pluralism, respect for other cultures, and human rights. By leveraging the leadership and pooling the talents of these young Muslim doctors, lawyers, bankers, artists, writers, academics and media professionals, the MLT can greatly amplify Islam's peaceful and moderate voice as a source of hope and inspiration for Muslims and non- Muslims alike . http://www.cordobainitiative.org/program_areas.html
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MIM: The mission statement of the American Society for Muslim Advancement which launched the Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow organisation.
OUR MISSION:
The American Society for Muslim Advancement (ASMA) is a New-York based nonprofit organization founded in 1997 to elevate the discourse on Islam and foster environments in which Muslims thrive. We are dedicated to strengthening an authentic expression of Islam based on cultural and religious harmony through interfaith collaboration, youth and women's empowerment, and arts and cultural exchange. http://www.asmasociety.org/about/index.html
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/3857